--- title: Donald Trump's Budget Would Cut Amtrak Infrastructure Funds description: President Donald Trump blamed the Washington Amtrak derailment on crumbling infrastructure, but he has proposed to cut rail funding by 13%. canonical: https://time.com/5069968/amtrak-derailment-infrastructure-plan-donald-trump/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-18T22:14:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-30T12:30:48.280Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump's Budget Would Cut Railroad Infrastructure og:description: He blamed the Amtrak crash on crumbling infrastructure og:url: https://time.com/5069968/amtrak-derailment-infrastructure-plan-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaeb1b8c8349a52e6/6988f57d096a9479726a0d1c/amtrak-train-derailment1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: Train Derailment Washington State - 18 Dec 2017 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump's Budget Would Cut Railroad Infrastructure twitter:description: He blamed the Amtrak crash on crumbling infrastructure twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaeb1b8c8349a52e6/6988f57d096a9479726a0d1c/amtrak-train-derailment1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Proposed a Huge Cut to Rail Spending. Then Blamed the Amtrak Derailment on Poor Infrastructure > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=e64de99e-798f-44f8-928b-e60db9c11a35&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/) and [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/) Dec 18, 2017 10:14 PM UTC  An Amtrak train that was derailed south of Seattle on Dec. 18, 2017\. Authorities reported "injuries and casualties." The train derailed about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of Seattle before 8 a.m., spilling at least one train car on to busy Interstate 5. An Amtrak train that was derailed south of Seattle on Dec. 18, 2017\. Authorities reported "injuries and casualties." The train derailed about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of Seattle before 8 a.m., spilling at least one train car on to busy Interstate 5. Washington State Patrol/AP/Shutterstock by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/) and [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/) Dec 18, 2017 10:14 PM UTC As authorities were still trying to determine the causes — and the exact death toll — of [Monday’s Amtrak derailment](http://time.com/5069706/amtrak-train-derailment-seattle/?xid=homepage) in Washington state, President Donald Trump immediately waded into a policy debate, teasing a “soon to be submitted infrastructure plan” for “roads, bridges, tunnels, railways (and more).” “It is all the more reason why we must immediately start fixing the infrastructure of the United States,” Trump said in subsequent remarks on Monday. But there’s one problem — the Trump Administration already has submitted an infrastructure plan as part of its 2018 budget proposal — and it proposes deep cuts to the nation’s rail systems. Trump often talked about a $1 trillion infrastructure plan when he was a candidate, and he included a $1 trillion private/public infrastructure investment in the 2018 budget his administration proposed to Congress in May. The plan called for $200 billion in spending in infrastructure, but it also also limited money to build new or expand existing lines and slashed subsidies for rural lines. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/942827072824672262) Overall, the budget request would slash railroad funding from the President Barack Obama era by almost 13%, [according to The Washington Post.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/trump-budget-slashes-federal-aid-for-rail-long-distance-amtrak-routes/2017/05/23/55df2bc4-3fdf-11e7-adba-394ee67a7582%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.b1321c9a4410) “The President’s infrastructure agenda reflects a “bait-and-switch”: rhetoric that suggests a commitment to rebuilding, but policies that would undermine our ability to do so,” [wrote Jacob Leibenluft](https://www.cbpp.org/blog/trumps-bait-and-switch-on-infrastructure), a Senior Adviser at Center on Budget and Policy Priorities who worked for the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton’s campaign, in June. The _Post_ reported in September that the president was backing away from private-public partnership funding, but his administration has yet to reveal his new method of financing infrastructure investments. The White House did not immediately respond to request for comment about the infrastructure plan to which Trump alluded on Monday. When Trump was touting his infrastructure plan, he seemed to be insinuating that funding had been sacrificed because of the money spent in the Middle East, citing a $7 trillion pricetag [that exceeds most estimates.](http://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/) As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have expanded, they’ve also exploded the national debt. Budgets, however, did not reflect those true costs and for years were treated as separate spending decisions, usually financed through borrowing. And the criticism of red ink runs counter to this week’s push by Republicans in Congress to add another $1.5 trillion in borrowing to pay for tax cuts. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5069968/amtrak-derailment-infrastructure-plan-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5069968/amtrak-derailment-infrastructure-plan-donald-trump/"},"headline":"President Trump Proposed a Huge Cut to Rail Spending. 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